Vienna Celebrates Model Train Club's 65th Anniversary

On Saturday April 12, the Town of Vienna helped the Northern Virginia Model Railroaders celebrate their 65th Anniversary!  Mayor Laurie DiRocco, Vice Mayor Carey Sienicki, several members of the Town Council, and many Vienna residents attended the Open House in the historic Vienna Depot of the former Washington and Old Dominion Railroad (W&OD).  Railroad and model railroad artifacts were on display in the Depot’s waiting room and dispatch office with club members serving as docents.  The highlight for children and adults alike was the 20x50 foot HO scale model railroad layout in the old baggage room.  Steam and diesel locomotives pulled trains up and down the mountains of Western North Carolina through towns with award winning structures.  Even Thomas the Tank Engine and some of his friends were running!  Our next Open House will be May 24 and 25 during Viva Vienna Days.

The Northern Virginia Model Railroaders was founded in 1949. Its goals are to promote the hobby of model railroading, educate the public, and provide an enjoyable recreational experience for its members.   The club’s membership has grown from the original six founders to over ninety members today. Members come from diverse professional and work backgrounds including a number of foreign countries; but, all share an enthusiasm for the hobby of model railroading. While our Open Houses allow the club to share this enthusiasm with the public, the hobby is not just running trains.  Members provide talent and work hard to improve and maintain the layout and to keep the railroad functioning.   This includes track construction, electrical work to maintain track, trolley and signal power, model building construction, artistic scenery design, computer program configuration, and work to assure locomotives and train cars (rolling stock) meet standards and function.  Club members also maintain and keep the Depot clean.

 The club has had three locations in its sixty five year existence: the first was in a member’s garage (which only lasted one winter!); the second was the yardmaster’s office located in the Southern Railway’s Potomac Yard in Alexandria, Virginia; and lastly, thanks to the Town of Vienna and the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority, for over 35 years it has been in the Vienna Depot at Dominion Drive and Ayr Hill Avenue.  With the W&OD Railroad gone since 1968 and its tracks removed, Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority paved the right of way creating the W&OD walking, running, and riding trail so the Depot is also on the W&OD Trail just west of the Caboose.

For more information on the club, its Open House schedule, location, and a virtual tour, see www.nvmr.org.